Wrist Mobility For Olympic Weightlifting
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I get asked a lot about improving wrist flexibility—in most cases the wrists are fine and it’s instead an issue of shoulder mobility or just incorrect positions. But just in case, here’s my take on improving wrist flexibility.
First, before you do any wrist stretches, shake out your hand and wrist well, then grab your hand and pull it straight out from your forearm to decompress all the carpals. This will help you actually stretch instead of just jamming all those small bones together.
Some of you may also find you get a jamming sensation near the outside of your wrist. Grab your wrist with your middle finger right over that bony protrusion and squeeze a few times to get the end of the ulna moving a little.
The wrist and finger flexors are going to be tight in weightlifters, so this is where you’re going to spend most of your time.
Push the fingers back first to get both the finger and wrist flexors. After that, push just the hand and relax the fingers to hit just the wrist. Stretch with both a bent and straight elbow. You can do straight arm stretches on a wall, the floor or a bar.
While they’re likely not very tight, it’s a good idea to gently stretch the extensors as well. Simply reverse the flexor motions—push against the fingers, then just the hand. You can also get a little rotation by pushing against the thumb side while in a flexed position.
Finally, throw in some ulnar deviation with the thumb gripped inside the fist, and also move into some wrist flexion while holding that deviated position.
Help support my free content
I get asked a lot about improving wrist flexibility—in most cases the wrists are fine and it’s instead an issue of shoulder mobility or just incorrect positions. But just in case, here’s my take on improving wrist flexibility.
First, before you do any wrist stretches, shake out your hand and wrist well, then grab your hand and pull it straight out from your forearm to decompress all the carpals. This will help you actually stretch instead of just jamming all those small bones together.
Some of you may also find you get a jamming sensation near the outside of your wrist. Grab your wrist with your middle finger right over that bony protrusion and squeeze a few times to get the end of the ulna moving a little.
The wrist and finger flexors are going to be tight in weightlifters, so this is where you’re going to spend most of your time.
Push the fingers back first to get both the finger and wrist flexors. After that, push just the hand and relax the fingers to hit just the wrist. Stretch with both a bent and straight elbow. You can do straight arm stretches on a wall, the floor or a bar.
While they’re likely not very tight, it’s a good idea to gently stretch the extensors as well. Simply reverse the flexor motions—push against the fingers, then just the hand. You can also get a little rotation by pushing against the thumb side while in a flexed position.
Finally, throw in some ulnar deviation with the thumb gripped inside the fist, and also move into some wrist flexion while holding that deviated position.
